1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a crimping device and method for crimping together edge portions of adjacent building panels.
2. Background Information
Construction techniques are known for constructing buildings using adjacent metal building panels that are attached together at their adjacent edges. Such building panels may include a main portion from which side edge portions extend. The side edge portions may be configured so that the edge of one panel can be disposed inside the edge of another panel and then crimped together. Once the panels have been crimped together, a rotary seam forming device can be applied to the panels to form a more watertight seam. Devices for crimping the building panels together are known in the art and are commercially available from M. I. C. Industries, Inc. of Reston, Va. Exemplary devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,748, which is owned by M. I. C. Industries, Inc.
The present inventors have observed, however, that attempting to crimp building panels within a confined space, such as a concrete foundation form, can be difficult because the distance between the foundation form and the panels may be insufficient for conventional devices to operate. Leaving a portion of the seam of adjacent building panels uncrimped can be undesirable because it may permit unwanted water to accumulate in the seams of adjacent building panels at the building foundation. In addition, conventional crimping devices may require the user to separately activate each crimping action of the device, requiring the user to separately reposition the crimping device for each individual crimping action (e.g., each open/close cycle of a pair of crimping jaws).
The crimping device and methods disclosed herein may address these and other needs.